diff --git a/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/README.md b/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/README.md
index 5d683c1..7a3db64 100644
--- a/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/README.md
+++ b/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/README.md
@@ -138,3 +138,17 @@ missing source windows prohibit numeric accepted timing scores. Historical
 full-source gated DTW **6/8** is context, never an inherited result or an isolated
 causal comparison with this end-to-end hybrid run. No new timing score exists
 until this exact mode executes and all checks finish.
+
+The first attempt at `.searchi/qa/speech-live-timing-v1` failed during source
+preflight, before any model load or inference. Its immutable `failure.json`
+SHA-256 is `9ba49fd5cdb69e57c267f579818f226949b02eafbc0e592161fad7593f00c6aa`.
+The bark recording lasts 2.038594 seconds: its rounded 2039 ms window implies
+32624 samples, while aligned decoding correctly retains 32618 real samples.
+The six-sample difference is 0.375 ms. The evaluator now accepts the existing
+one-millisecond coverage bound (16 samples), without padding, trimming or
+changing source bytes, labels, ranking, or DTW points. Its regression test
+accepts that real tail and rejects a 17-sample discrepancy and invalid bounds.
+Seven Rust tests, strict all-target Clippy and five timing-adapter tests passed.
+A retry must use a fresh output directory after the corrected evaluator is
+frozen and the CPU inference slot is granted again; the failed attempt remains
+preserved and has no quality score.
diff --git a/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/src/main.rs b/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/src/main.rs
index 370fd05..c13829c 100644
--- a/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/src/main.rs
+++ b/tools/speech-eval/native-validation/src/main.rs
@@ -60,6 +60,18 @@ fn file_hash(path: &Path) -> Result<String> {
     }
     Ok(format!("{:x}", state.finalize()))
 }
+fn validate_sample_coverage(samples: usize, duration_ms: u32) -> Result<()> {
+    let expected = duration_ms as usize * 16;
+    ensure!(
+        samples > 0
+            && samples <= 480000
+            && expected > 0
+            && expected <= 480000
+            && samples.abs_diff(expected) <= 16,
+        "Fixture source clock coverage differs beyond existing one-millisecond bound"
+    );
+    Ok(())
+}
 fn write_new(path: &Path, value: &Value) -> Result<()> {
     let mut file = fs::OpenOptions::new()
         .write(true)
@@ -174,16 +186,13 @@ fn run_case(
         let mut source_windows = Vec::new();
         for window in windows(metadata.audio_start_ms, metadata.audio_end_ms, max_windows)? {
             let pcm = decode_audio_aligned(&assets.tools, &path, window, &limits)?;
-            ensure!(
-                pcm.len() == window.duration_ms as usize * 16,
-                "Fixture source clock coverage differs"
-            );
+            validate_sample_coverage(pcm.len(), window.duration_ms)?;
             let sha = hash(
                 &pcm.iter()
                     .flat_map(|value| value.to_le_bytes())
                     .collect::<Vec<_>>(),
             );
-            let record = json!({"asset":id,"start_ms":window.start_ms,"duration_ms":window.duration_ms,"samples":pcm.len(),"pcm_sha256":sha});
+            let record = json!({"asset":id,"start_ms":window.start_ms,"duration_ms":window.duration_ms,"samples":pcm.len(),"nominal_samples":window.duration_ms as usize*16,"coverage_difference_samples":pcm.len() as i64-i64::from(window.duration_ms)*16,"pcm_sha256":sha});
             expected.entry(sha).or_default().push(record.clone());
             source_windows.push(record);
         }
@@ -487,6 +496,13 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(values.iter().all(|window| window.duration_ms <= 30000));
     }
     #[test]
+    fn fractional_millisecond_tail_preserves_real_samples() {
+        assert!(validate_sample_coverage(32618, 2039).is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_sample_coverage(32607, 2039).is_err());
+        assert!(validate_sample_coverage(0, 1).is_err());
+        assert!(validate_sample_coverage(480001, 30000).is_err());
+    }
+    #[test]
     #[ignore = "Requires the five hash-verified real media fixture files; no inference"]
     fn timing_mode_preflight_checks_all_real_frozen_sources_without_models() -> Result<()> {
         let root = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).join("../../../fixtures/media");